Day 2 started out with extremely low expectations. I was up really late the night before and couldn’t sleep in that late, so I thought I would be a little out of sorts all day. But luckily after 3 breakfast burritos (the third with extra jalapeno and hot sauce) and a few bottles of water, I was feeling a little more like myself again. I took a look at the set times for the day and while I was looking forward to a few acts, I hadn’t made any decisions about the night, and nothing really struck me as must see.
And I think its because of these low expectations that day 2 of Coachella was one of my favorite festival days of all time. It started out simply enough, with us sitting outside the Mojave tent to listen to a few tunes from Camera Obscura. I’d decided that since I just saw Beach House, I would head over to the Outdoor Theater to see The Temper Trap, but not until I met up with my cousin who was also in town for the fest. By the time he and his friends were ready to head to the Outdoor Theater, we could only catch “Sweet Disposition”, which was good and kind of made me wish I’d seen the rest of their set.
But up next was one of my festival must-sees, none other than Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Their album is a favorite of mine, and it’s one of those that I just love every single song so much, so I couldn’t wait to see it live on stage, complete with their huge cast of characters. They opened up with “40 Day Dream” and went into “Janglin’” and their performance was exactly what I’d expected (though this was one part of the day that I did have high expectations for). About 10 people on stage, all playing various instruments from trumpets to pianos to guitars to washboards, and some of the happiest music on Earth. The love and energy up on the stage really carried through. My personal favorite was “Up from Below”, which really came to life on stage. A few songs after that were a bit out of key at times, but the set finished strong with perennial favorite “Home”. Various members of the band jumped in front of the stage to crowdsurf at various times, and Alex Ebert lent his shirt to a young man in the front who had a cut on his head. Hopefully that young man doesn’t have any sort of infection now. Just kidding, Alex, we love you kids. And special thanks to girl on guy’s shoulders #2834 for taking a few pics for me from up there.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Om Nashi Me
buy it on 
or amazon
At this point, my two highlights of the weekend were hilarious because they were COMPLETE 100% opposites. The upbeat, free-love Edward Sharpe et al, and the dark, haunting Fever Ray. The mere fact that I got to experience both within just a few hours of each other said enough about this weekend.
Next up, we decided since we were already at that stage that we would just stay for the XX. I wasn’t particularly excited to see the XX mostly because I thought that it would not live up to the happiness of Edward Sharpe, but I gave it a shot and really enjoyed it in all its minimalist glory. I was surprised to see that they didn’t have a drummer, but rather a sort of live beat-maker. And Jay-Z even showed up, since he loves the indie rock now. Also notable was that during their set, the top of the main stage seemed to catch on fire, with black smoke billowing away. But it stopped after about a minute fortunately.
After stocking up on water for the rest of the night, we headed back to Mojave to catch some of the Dirty Projectors. It was great to see them again with their interesting compositions and incredible and versatile voices. We didn’t stick around too long because we all needed to stock up on some food and water before spending some time at the Sahara tent.
Now, let’s take a minute to talk about the Sahara tent. If you recall from my Lollapalooza recaps, I spent a lot of time at Perry’s last summer. Perry’s, which was expanded last year and I believe is being expanded again this year, is the DJ section of Lollapalooza. It’s all open air and under the trees, and the crowd forms a sort of semi circle around the DJs, and there’s always some great dance music going on. It’s the perfect place to spend some time when there isn’t really another act going on that you want to see.
The Sahara tent is the same concept, only it is in a humongous tent which has a crazy light setup both on stage and throughout the whole ceiling. I described it on twitter today as Perry’s times a million on crack. Just unreal. I can’t wait to get this video put together next week so I can show some of the radness that goes on there.
After devouring a delicious falafel wrap and some garlic fries, we headed into the Sahara tent to catch the rest of Kaskade’s set. It was fun beyond belief and we had such a great time that we decided to stay for David Guetta, who, as you may recall, I had a ticket to see in Rio last summer before we unexpectedly cancelled the trip. So it was sort of fate that I was going to see him on this night. And wow, did he deliver. Some of the hotter drops that I can remember were Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” (she seems to be a positive recurring theme this weekend) and with Major Lazer performing at the same time next door in the Mojave tent, Guetta paid tribute dropping in “Pon de Floor” at one point.
On the walk back to the other stages, I noticed the large string of balloons again in the air that stretched from basically one end of the fest to another, blowing violently in the wind, which had changed in color from white the day before to purple today. They were also flying free in the morning and tied down in the evenings, or so I thought. I’d been wanting to check out the pot of gold at the end of the balloon rainbow, basically to see how this thing was held in place without going away. And today I found out. There is a human being who literally holds this GIANT string of balloons down all day. I was so shocked that I had to take a picture. And all the while he’s just chatting up a storm with whoever’s around, as if it’s no big deal. But believe me, it’s a big deal, and crazy.
So, I skipped Hot Chip, MGMT, and Faith No More, but it was all worth it. We danced our behinds off for hours between Kaskade and Guetta, but the best part was, Tiesto was still to come. We made it back to the main stage in time to catch the end of Muse’s set, which I wasn’t planning on since I’d just seen them, so that was a nice added bonus. Then, like salmon swimming upstream to fertilize their eggs, we fought the crowd leaving Muse to see just how close we could get for Tiesto’s night-closing set. Amazingly, we ended up nearly dead center, about 20 rows back. This is not that impressive unless you’ve been to a night-closing set at a main stage of a major music festival. I’ve never even been remotely that close before in a similar scenario, so I was pretty pumped.
After the 40 minute wait between sets, it finally began. I couldn’t believe that the day had turned into a straight up electronic music festival, and had not planned on that at any point throughout the day, but as Tiesto killed it over and over again (man, those lights/lasers were intense!), I was glad that this was the way the day had turned out. Some of my favorites were his take on Editors “Papillon”, a song I didn’t particularly care for when it first came out but that I loved on this night. The other songs I recognized that found their way into the mix were Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll” as well as “Feel it in my Bones” and Tiesto’s Adagio for Strings remix, which he introduced by saying “Here’s the old Tiesto classic of the night”, or something like that. Once energy had reached a fever pitch, the set ended with a Flaminglipsian touch, with gobs upon gobs of confetti being thrown into the crowd. As we walked out of the show, the ground was pretty much completely covered.
Then we left the parking lot with no wait, again driving over the fence that someone had knocked down the day before, and proceeded to blare fantastic 80s tunes the whole way home. A great ending to a great day and night.
So, the moral of the story is, sometimes music fests turn out exactly the opposite of how you expected them to, and sometimes that’s for the best. Looking forward to day 3, which features some of my favorites. Plus I get to see my friend Sarah spin at 3:45 in the green zone area, or whatever it’s called, between Mojave and Sahara.
I probably forgot a lot, but I’m glad I’ve been able to get down in writing whatever I can remember from each day, and I hope you’re enjoying it too. How I wish, how I wish you were here.
Again, sorry for the lack of pics, but I promise you I will make up for it with my video, if I can figure out how to use iMovie once this fest is over. My goal is to get a full glimpse of all aspects of the fest, and I think I’ve done a decent job at capturing lots thus far. But I really really like the picture below of the girl on the guys shoulders. So I’ve got that going.
i dont reckon this album made many year end lists, but the completely raw sound (both musically and vocally)just stuck with me and kept bringing me back for more. and after seeing this two piece live this summer, i know that i want to listen to their music and to party with them. just a fun album.
to be perfectly honest, this album really didnt do much for me at first. then i was lucky enough to catch mr. penate live on a whim while i was in chicago earlier this year and i got to witness how fun and exciting his music can be first hand. then i found out my friend amber waited on him earlier that day, and i realized it was meant to be and the album went into heavy rotation shortly after.
the ever lovely natasha khans second album has really shown her moving forward since the release of the great “fur and gold” a few years back. this time, the songs are bigger and harder hitting. and its no surprise since she spent a bit of time in new york with dailybeatz favorite yeasayer working on beats. and for the second time, she even nabbed a mercury prize nod. we hope to see lots more of her in the future.
here we go magic is actually the third musical outing by luke temple, who previously released music under his actual name. i feel as though this album is best listened to on a lazy hazy summer afternoon. the intentional low production quality (allegedly recorded on a 4 track) actually adds to the album in this case. its almost as if we are listening in on some sort of practice session. a practice session which can get pretty ambient at times but more often than not is pretty neat.
its almost become uncool or cliche to like this album after how much buzz it got when its released, but since i am uncool, i am not afraid to add it to my top 
special thanks to mr peabs for informing me of this one month ago. i think the best way to describe this album is to steal from amazon reviewer mark roberts who says, “like m83s ‘saturdays=youth’, its a gorgeous and non-ironic homage to 80s music, without seeming any way dated.” i couldnt have said it better myself mark. hopefully this albums release date early in the year wont have thrown it off the radar of too many year end lists.
ah yes, everyones favorite early twenties london minimalist rock band, the xx. i was really late in listening to this album (as i am with most everything) but from even the first track i knew i was going to like this one. its amazing how much emotion can be put forth with such little sound at all. and the voices of oliver sim and romy madley croft just work perfectly together. not to mention the fact that they put out one of the biggest remixes of the year.
yeah, thats right, a compilation has made its way into my best albums of the year list. why? mostly because it was basically a whos who of the indie world at that point in the year and there were tons of great tracks that came from that album. and its for a good cause taboot! and is there even any doubt as to which track youre going to hear from it?
karen o and crew did it again, this time the tunes were bigger, brighter, and just made you want to dance. the album came out just as the warm weather was starting to take shape, and it became an essential summer album. with a big festival repertoire this year, including an impressive last minute lollapalooza headlining gig, the band solidified their place among todays great rock acts.
after just one listen to this album i knew it was right up my alley, especially since my tastes have turned so much to anything that can be danced too. even the title of the opening track, “happy up here”, was a great indication of what youd be getting from this one, fun energy. a great pump-you-up record with one of my top 5 songs of the year.
this was one of the latest additions to my music collection, and i reckon that if i had a little more time to spend with it, it may have inched up even higher. the dreamy sounds laid over a nice beat just take you to another place. i think this is one of those albums where the album art perfectly fits the music. cant wait to see what weird and or memory tapes and or cassette bring us next.
yeah, you knew it was coming eventually. my love affair began when i finally got a studio version of “my girls”, the track i fell in love with when i heard it live almost a year earlier. and the rest of the album kept me coming back for more. im really not going to repeat everything anyones said about this album because we would be here all day, but this is a must have for any music fan. bonus points for most psychedelic album art. just find a large version of the album cover and get back to me.
the first time i listened to this album it was early on a sunday morning driving through the (at the time) desolate streets of detroit. this scenario was so fitting with the album that karin dreijer andersson eventually turned it (well, something like it) into a music video. my surroundings during my first listen really shaped my vision of this album in an extremely positive way. however intrigued i was by andersson before this project, i am now intrigued tenfold by her mysterious persona.
this album definitely snuck up on me, with its loud guitars and catchy melodies. i think what i like most about it is that the whole album just sounds so much like california. not any specific destination or aspect of california, just california as a whole. perhaps because of christopher owens’ gritty and playful vocals, the album just feels real and genuine. its also one of those albums where my favorite song changes weekly. right now, its “morning light”.
so much to say about this latest offering from phoenix. i still remember my first time hearing “1901″ and how i knew instantly it would become a go-to song when i needed some energy, and then i realized that a lot of the album was the same way. and a seven and a half minute track that was almost all instrumental? sign me up. and just recently i was able to witness first hand that their live performances contain all of the energy of the album (and then some).
i still have no idea what “veckatimest” is supposed to mean, but i do know that it lived up and surpassed any hype and expectation. a solid offering from the very first notes of “southern point” to the wistful ending of “foreground” and jam packed with classics in between. this is one of those albums that just about any music fan young or old will probably enjoy.
for annie clarks sophomore album, she broke every musical rule. whatever role you thought an instrument would play, it played the opposite on this one (listen to the flute throughout this song below, for example). and i think thats whats so special about this album. it doesnt really sound like anything youve ever heard before, and its almost uncomfortable to listen to at first, but once you get a grasp on whats going on, you can really apprecaite how one of a kind it is.
ok, so i dont know if this album was technically released this year, or why it seems to have multiple names, but it definitely found its biggest audience this year either way. the album cover describes the album perfectly. old fashioned and awesome. this folky number (allegedly all recorded live on a 24 track machine) is perfect for that friend who just cant get in to any of your music because it was made on a computer and therefore unpure. full of beautiful melodies with stripped down production, its the simplicity of this album that draws you in, and its the catchy songs that will keep you singing. it conjures visions of flower children holding hands singing songs, in a totally non-dirty hippie way.
one of the most emotional albums, musically and lyrically, in recent memory. the tale of troubled lovers dealing with a terminal illness is told in great detail on this album, complete with the good times, the bad times and everything in between. but much of the time (save for maybe “kettering”), the music doesnt want to make you cry, in fact, it does quite the opposite. in “bear”, for example, the music is like that of a childrens lullaby but builds into something much bigger. and if you think that their live show would be boring and quiet, you would be in for a shock when they nearly blow the speakers out.
if you read this blog with any regularity, then you probably already knew this was the number one album. miike snow was really my overall musical act of the year, with the great album, two great live performances that i witnessed, and two of the ILLEST remixes of the year. in my opinion, this is the perfect album for people who hear the word “electronic” and run away screaming, because its totally electronic in a completely digestible way. the album starts out with the total pop hit “animal”, then “burial” gives our first tastes of computers, but its subtle and welcome. by “silvia”, youve moved on from dipping a toe in the water to pretty much end up waste deep in electronic goodness, and by then, the water feels fine so youre ready to dive in head first. luckily there are tracks later like “plastic jungle” and “in search of main” to whet your appetite. and the album pales in comparison to their live performances, with their 5-10 minute dj improvs following nearly every song.
buy this track on itunes
